But then, given their penchant for revenging themselves on their enemies by holding them down and nailing their knees to the floor, perhaps no-one wanted to give offence by bestowing on them the wrong sort of nickname.

This is what traps them in their cage: None of them thinks about running away or revenging themselves upon the ‘normal’ members of society.

Yes, it will follow, and may the wrongs which Irishmen have suffered be revenged both soon and sudden.

Origin

‘Revenge’, said the 17th-century courtier and scholar Francis Bacon, ‘is a kind of wild justice.’ The idea that wrongs can be most successfully avenged by someone who has taken the time to plan their response is formulated in the proverb first recorded in the late 19th century, revenge is a dish best eaten cold. The word is from Old French revencher, which was from Latin vindicare ‘to claim, avenge’—the root of vindicate (early 17th century) and avenge (Late Middle English).